Hello World! I am the new Sea Grant Malouf Scholar (Kai) and it is past due time for me to post to the blog. I have been delaying posting due to a whirlwind of ideas as to how I could build a case that would make my research accessible and make sense. My overall project and interests revolve around trying to understand how estuary systems change as a result of climate change. As a bit of a motivation for the problem, the following picture is of Netarts bay along our coast of Oregon.

First of all, beautiful. The coast of Oregon is absolutely epic and everyone should at some point take a trip to soak it in. Second of all, physically there is so much going on in this picture that I could easily talk about it all day. Estuary systems are incredibly complex as they are the meeting point of a variety of environments (land, sea, atmosphere, stream, etc.). The middle of the ocean is nice because it’s just water. Well water and a massive swirling chaos machine know as the atmosphere all of which is spinning on a sphere which makes things appear to curve (the coriollis force). And a massive conveyor belt of currents caused by various temperature and density gradients:

Perpetual Ocean:  https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/details.cgi?aid=3827

So maybe not that nice……. But still better than the coast where you have interaction with land and all the complexities that it brings. In the Netarts picture we see a huge spit (the sandy looking peninsula) has been built as a result of waves slowly, grain by grain pushing sediment for years and years. This in turns modifies the waves (as seen by the odd breaking pattern in there shoals off the tip of the spit). Estuaries also have streamflow coming into the system making density variations and season freshwater influxes a factor. And thats just a taste of the problem. Overall the situation is a mess which is why the geophysics of estuaries is relatively understudied and not particularly well understood.

So my research is trying to work out what drives estuaries but then with the icing on the top: climate change and how it will effect the system. Science assemble!!!!!!!!!

So hopefully over the year I will break down how one goes about approaching this problem. First up…. Waves!

I processed my last batch of samples from field work at Alsea from last week. It was strange to know this was the last time I would be in this fume hood. Working in the dark for the last time.

In other news, at Bier One this week, there were didgeridoo performances! Crazy cool stuff. I had never seen a didgeridoo performance before, and it was really cool to hear this instrument I had only heard about/seen on movies/TV shows.

In addition, seeing this performance sparked a conversation I had on the phone with a friend from back home, shortly after discussing whether instruments and music are able to be culturally appropriated. Are music and musical instruments exempt from being appropriated if a huge part of music is about sharing? Or is it not about sharing? A didgeridoo, originating from indigenous Australians, is now being used all over the world (cue map showing how far Australia is from Oregon). Cultural appropriation or cultural exchange? What if the culture of interest are oppressed people and the ones appropriating are the colonizers/oppressors–this implies appropriation, or does it? In this case, colonized indigenous peoples of Australia were oppressed and still are, have an instrument and music style originating from themselves, are now being played by Americans, a country built on colonization. Is this cultural appropriation? What about other cases? What if the two groups are of “equal” levels of treatment, ie) not oppressing the other, is this count as an exchange vs appropriative behavior? Some food for thought…

BUT also at Bier One, I learned a new game, called “Box” which is super easy, where multiple players roll a dice and on a scale of 1-9 tiles, put tiles down in correspondence to the numbers rolled on the dice. The object of the game is to end up with the lowest value combination on the 1-9 scale. Apparently it is a popular game in Newport, according to a local passerby-er.

The next day, we discovered the vastness of the JC Thriftway (a supermarket down the street from us) bakery section. BROWNIES FOR 50 CENTS? why haven’t I been here before?! This was shortly after going to the Rogue Public House on the Bayfront for the first time. Best clam chowder I have ever had in Oregon so far.

Aaaaand the highlight of the week– definitely, the Great Albacore Tuna BBQ Challenge! Amateurs and professional chefs come together across the street from Hatfield and compete for cash prizes for their best tuna dishes. For a student ticket of $10, you can try all the dishes and help judge/vote for a People’s Choice award! With bellies full of tuna (and some of the best dishes I have ever tasted), we continued to eat and try foods for three hours straight while checking out the classic car show that was also there. That’s what I call my ideal Saturday–food/eating and classic cars.

On Sunday, we attended the (now declared historic) Bernie Sanders for president rally in Portland. I personally never really keep up with politics and have never attended a political rally before. It was super fun, super tiring, and really inspiring. A lot of standing around, a lot of screaming and whoo-ing, a lot of emotions and near-tear moments.

And here we are, at my last week at Hatfield. It’s definitely bittersweet saying goodbye to the swallows that fly by my office window and swoop up under the roof and the amazing view by my window: PNW forested landscapes, a mudflat at low tide, and a bay at high.

I am attending the American Fisheries Society annual meeting next week in Portland, representing the Davis-Sacramento Student Subunit! So I won’t be at Hatfield during our week 10. However, I’m sure I’ll have plenty of photos from PDX to share next week.   I’ve been working non-stop on my poster and final presentation for the Oregon Sea Grant Summer Scholar student symposium this upcoming Friday. I finally finished printing it!!!!!!!

We had our last EPA intern workshop today as well, talking about elevator speeches and practicing introducing yourself to a variety of different audiences. It was helpful considering I’ll be in those situations where you’re expected to introduce yourself in 30 seconds to a stranger, soon to be colleague, next week and even this Friday.

It’s crazy to think the next time I’ll be writing a blog is after I will be done presenting my OSG scholar work. Time has flown!

Yet again, I find myself on Monday morning in a wetsuit heading out to Otter Rock Marine Reserve to collect SMURFs and sample the juvenile fish. I’ve decided this is one of my favorite jobs I’ve done so far with the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife. The start time is not too early, it’s a good way to start the day, and I get to swim in the ocean. No matter how cold or early, I would take any opportunity I could to get in the water and do some field work.

The day was very successful and Rosalyn was able to go with us, which made it a lot more fun. The day did not end after the field work however. There was a total of 275 fish that needed to be identified and measured. It took until about 8 pm, but we were able to finish and go to the local bar and sit down for a beer. It was a long day.

Something I have realized from this week is that I really want to go to grad school at some point. I think there is a lot to be learned in the field of marine biology and I even though I don’t know when I will go, I want to continue my education. I’ve been looking a lot of different places and even schools abroad as well. There are so many programs that look so interesting!

As the weekend rolled up, our plan of attack was to finally hike Cascade Head, which is one of the more popular hikes in Lincoln City. It was around 5 miles and had an amazing view at the top. I cannot get over how gorgeous Oregon really is and how much of it that I still have yet to explore. As the weekend calms down, I am spending the day relaxing and resting for the week ahead. I cannot believe that the end is now in sight. It seems like only a short while ago I was graduating from college and on my way to Newport.

Another update is that I get to attend the American Fisheries Society Conference in Portland in two weeks! I have never been to one before and am excited to be around people that are passionate about the same things that I am. It will also be a great way to end the internship and summer. I am hopeful for the future and so far this has solidified that I do really love working on the coast and in marine science.